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analysis Newswatch firstperson special Time for
change industry Curbing
corruption Why
do they plagiarise?
analysis In the complex structure of power that prevails in Pakistan, no individual exercises as much authority as some people seem to believe By Aasim
Sajjad Akhtar By the time that this
essay is published, Asif Ali Zardari will have been inaugurated as the
president A seemingly large number of people are already convinced that Zardari is going to renege on every promise he has made to deepen the process of democratisation. The man has never enjoyed a very good reputation and while it would be wrong to suggest that he himself has made no digression during his time in the public glare, it seems difficult to make sense of just how much vitriol the mention of his name generates among many otherwise level-headed people. That Zardari and the
party he leads are simply attempting to retake some political power from
the It is a good thing that so many recently politicised Pakistanis, and especially young people, are angry about Zardari 'selling out the movement'. Such sentiments reflect a desire for substantive change, rather than compromised transition from American-backed military rule to an American-backed quasi-democratic regime. The PPP -- including previously infallible individuals, such as Aitzaz Ahsan -- of course is deserving of criticism, because it is in government; and a government, even if it is elected, should always be subject to public pressure. But there is less sense in hurling abuse at an individual, no matter how influential he may be, as if to suggest that he is responsible for every deviation from what is perceived as the truly democratic path. If nothing else, such reactions betray the complex structure of power that prevails in Pakistan, in which no individual exercises as much authority as some people seem to believe. Let us take the example of the American incursion into South Waziristan Agency on September 3 (and other such attacks expected in the coming days)! The incident has been met with widespread condemnation and a demand that Islamabad confronts Washington. Is Zardari responsible for the American attack? In theory, one could answer in the affirmative inasmuch as Zardari, as head of the ruling party, has chosen to continue supporting America's so-called 'war on terror'. But in reality, Zardari (or the PPP for that matter) has virtually ceded control over strategic policy in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) to the General Headquarters (GHQ). Thus, rather than blaming Zardari for the attack, it is much more meaningful to criticise the elected government for not demanding a share of decision-making power over the so-called 'war on terror'. In fact, the elected government has virtually no clue about what is going on in FATA and the NWFP, a corollary of the compromised transition that is taking place. The PPP, let alone Zardari, is not alone in accepting the American-backed transition. On this count, the Awami National Party (ANP), the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) and even the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) are just as culpable. Then there is the horrendous incident that took place in western Balochistan, in which five young women were buried alive under the convenient guise of 'honour killing'. Is Zardari responsible for this fiasco as well? Yes, if one insists that he micro-manages everything in Pakistan and that he gave permission to government functionaries to undertake the gruesome act. Perhaps one can even argue that Zardari remains committed to 'backward' and 'feudal' traditions, and, therefore, implicitly supports the so-called 'honour killing'. That the barbaric oppression of women in our society has been given a mandate by the state and that those in public office regularly abuse their authority in supporting such acts is not in question. But even if one person really did have all the power in the world, could he undo such entrenched practices all at once? Perhaps the above is a bad example. Let us, therefore, conclude with the issue that Zardari has faced the most vilification for, namely that of the deposed judges! Is it Zardari's fault that many judges are now agreeing to take fresh oaths and, thereby, legitimating the Dogar-led judiciary? Do they have no agency whatsoever? Has Zardari drugged them into taking unprincipled decisions? Regardless of how little democratic process there is within the PPP, Zardari does not act alone. Many of us do not agree with Zardari's decision to become the president and we reserve the right to make our disagreement public. In principle we can disagree with parliament too, but surely we cannot disagree with the process through which parliament is making decisions, such as that to make Zardari president. It was to restore the democratic process that so many of us were on the streets against military dictatorship, after all. If we do not like the outcome of the democratic process, then this means that we need to create political forces that can give us the outcome we want, assuming that the majority of people vote them into office. In short, portraying Zardari as being responsible for everything that has transpired in the post-February 18 period, particularly that which we disagree with, is not the way to deepen the process of democratisation. For such a deepening to take place, we need to continue to vest faith in the democratic process and then forge new political alliances that can emerge through this process. It will take a long time and there will be many Zardaris, Nawaz Sharifs, Fazlur Rahmans and others along the way, but there is no shortcut. If we try too hard to find one, we might find our way back to another military dictatorship.
Newswatch Chamchagiri is alive and well in Pakistan By Kaleem Omar 'Chamchagiri' is a much more evocative word than its English equivalent, 'sycophancy'. The latter doesn't have quite the same tonality or onomatopoeic quality as chamchagiri, just as the expression "ignorance is bliss" cannot hold a candle to its Punjabi equivalent: "jihalat hovey tey maujan-e-maujan" -- a bit of folklore wisdom often seen on the backs of trucks in places like Bhai Pheroo, Mandi Bahauddin and Pind Dadan Khan. Questions of tonality and evocativeness aside, however, one thing is for sure: chamchagiri is alive, well and kicking in Pakistan these days. One only has to look at our some of our daily newspapers to see that examples of chamchagiri abound. Take Wednesday's papers, for instance. One story, written by someone hiding behind the byline "By our correspondent", was headlined: "Zardari can turn around economy". The story began with the following astonishing assertion: "There is a growing feeling in business and economic circles in Pakistan that given his sharp business instincts and active participation in mega projects during the last PPP governments, Asif Ali Zardari, if elected president, may actually turn around the economy." Now, this, it seems to me, is a lulu, a real doozy of a statement, in the sense that it's a pretty neat way of putting a positive spin on all the alleged wheeling and dealing that Zardari (aka 'Mr Ten Percent') was famous for in the days before he came to be known -- in his own words -- as "the most acquitted person" in Pakistan. Any awkward remnants of those halcyon days that may have survived all those acquittals were wiped clean by the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) promulgated by then-President Pervez Musharraf in October last year. The NRO may have been utterly untenable from the constitutional point of view, but there's no denying the fact that, as dictatorial fiats go, it was a truly wonderful diktat that had the effect of turning black into white in one fell swoop. Sinners became saints and smooth-talking wheeler dealers became even smoother-talking dealer wheelers in less than it takes to say Musharraf. But to revert to the story in Wednesday's paper, it went on to spread its message in thick layers of sycophantic butter, stating: "These circles (such 'circles' are never identified) recall that it was the direct involvement of Zardari during the second government of Benazir Bhutto which resulted in the massive induction of power generation through the IPPs." I probably wrote more investigative stories about the independent power producers (IPPs) back in those days than most other Pakistani journalists, and I can testify to the fact that I never came across any evidence of Zardari's "involvement" -- "direct" or otherwise -- in the setting up of the IPP plants. He played no part in the formulation of the Benazir government's 1994 Energy Policy, under which the IPP plants were set up. That Energy Policy was the work of an Energy Task Force, headed by Shahid Hassan Khan -- who was a paid consultant for Britain's National Power Company (the main sponsors of the 1,292-megawatt Hubco power plant) before he joined the Benazir government as a special assistant to the prime minister. Even after joining the government, Khan remained on National Power's payroll, an arrangement that was a clear case of conflict of interest. In his capacity as special assistant to the prime minister, he was also instrumental in ensuring that WAPDA's 1,600-megawatt thermal power plant at Kot Addu near Multan was handed over to National Power for a price that was much less than its true value. To make matters worse, there was no justification for the government to sell a 26 percent share in the Kot Addu plant to National Power or anybody else, because the plant -- by WAPDA's and the government's own admission -- was the most profitable thermal power plant in the state sector and was producing power for the national grid at a per unit cost that was less than half of what National Power charged WAPDA after taking over the management of the plant. To make matters even worse, the sale of an initial 26 percent stake in the Kot Addu plant to National Power and the transfer of the plant's management to the British company resulted in a situation where the 26 percent owner (National Power) had seven members on the plant's board of directors, while the 74 percent owner (WAPDA) had only two members on the board. The way the board was constituted meant that there was nobody to protect WAPDA's 74 percent stake in the plant, in the event of a difference developing between WAPDA and National Power on the way the plant should be run. If any such difference were to come up before the board for resolution, WAPDA's directors would have been outvoted by National Power's directors by a margin of two to seven. One doubts whether there has ever been any other case anywhere in the world where the majority stakeholder with 74 percent shares in the company had no say in the way the company should be run and where the 26 percent minority shareholder ruled the roost. WAPDA later sold another 25 percent stake in the Kot Addu plant to National Power, but even that stake was sold to the British company for much less than its true value. WAPDA later filed a case in the Lahore High Court against National Power for the recovery of Rs17 billion it had paid to National Power. In an interim order, the court ruled that the Kot Addu plant's new part owners could not bill WAPDA at a per unit price that was more than what it had been costing WAPDA to generate the electricity itself and that National Power could not remit more than a certain amount of its profits overseas. The court also ordered the appointment of a WAPDA chief engineer to take over the management of the plant from National Power. The whole imbroglio was later settled through protracted negotiations between WAPDA and National Power, with the latter agreeing to a substantial cut in the price at which it was selling electricity to WAPDA. Similar price cuts were also agreed by National Power in the case of the Hubco plant, which then formed the basis of across-the-board price cuts agreed by all the other IPPs. As a result of those price cuts, the national exchequer stands to save $6 billion over the 30-year period of the power purchase agreements between WAPDA and the IPPs. The credit for this huge saving to the national exchequer goes to WAPDA's then-Chairman Lt-Gen Zulfiqar Ali Khan, who resisted all the pressure put on him by then-Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz to settle with Hubco, National Power and the Kot Addu plant "at any cost". But what became of Shahid Hassan Khan, National Power's consultant and a special assistant to Benazir Bhutto in the days of her second government (1993-1996)? Well, he fled the country when Benazir's government was ousted by then-President Farooq Leghari in November 1996. The Nawaz Sharif government, which succeeded the Benazir government following the February 1997 elections, issued a warrant of arrest for Khan, but he had already fled the country by then. Where he is today is anybody's guess.
Making dreams come true Most people die not due to tumour, but due to the complications that cancer cells can produce By Dr Faisal Bari 'Cancer', the most
dreaded of words, continues to evoke fear among people and rightly so! For
most Dr Asher A Chanan-Khan, a graduate of Allama Iqbal Medical College, Lahore, is one of the doctors who are working hard to make this dream come true. He is one of the leading international researchers in the treatment of two types of cancers: myeloma and chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL). He is currently an associate professor of Internal Medicine at University of Buffalo Medical School and an attending resident at the Roswell Park Cancer Institute, one of the top cancer research centres in the United States. Dr Chanan-Khan has completed fellowships in Internal Medicine, Clinical Haematology and Clinical Oncology. Through his research, he has significantly enhanced understanding of myeloma and CLL and ways of treating these. When he started his career, less than a decade ago, myeloma patients had an average survival period of two to three years; now the average is almost a decade. Though the progress has been spectacular, the ultimate dream, for Dr Chanan-Khan and researchers like him, remains the ability to treat cancer fully. The News on Sunday interviewed him recently. Excerpts follow: The News on Sunday: Can
you please explain to us in lay terms what actually cancer is? Dr Asher A Chanan-Khan: The human body is made of cells, which get together to make organs and organisms. All cells have a certain finite set of specific tasks to perform and they die after performing those tasks. Normal cells have strong regulatory mechanisms that make them perform their tasks within strict parameters. For example, our ears and nose stop growing after a specific age. After the requisite performance, normal cells die. There, however, are certain exceptions. For instance, stem cells stay alive for a very long period and they have a backup system too -- a certain percentage of committed cells does not die. In case something goes wrong, the backup system comes in handy. We do not definitely know why some cells do not die, but death of other cells explains the ageing process in humans. Cancer cells, on the other hand, develop mechanisms whereby the auto death property, among others, is rendered ineffective. Hence, cancer cells have a very long life or are immortal. Again we are not sure why this happens. Cancer cells inhibit the normal regulatory function of a cell so that they keep growing (tumours), do not die, keep reproducing and evade all sorts of checks. They can occur in any part of the body, in any organ and even blood. Once they are there in a sufficient number, cancer cells can start taking away nutrients from normal cells and creating a mini-environment around them that can adversely affect the working of normal cells and organs and can ultimately cause the death of an organism. TNS: But why is this problematic? What if we increase nutrition to that part of the body? Can normal and cancer cells live together? ACK: Cancer cells draw away resources from normal cells, and hamper normal functions that cells and organs are supposed to perform. In some parts of the body, even small tumours can undermine the working of an organ. For example, a small tumour in the brain, with no extra space, can be fatal. Even if a small tumour can be tolerated in other parts of the body (say stomach or intestines), it will eventually become bigger and cause trouble. Cancer cells can also produce chemicals that harm surrounding cells and areas. However, it is a fact that most people die not due to tumour, but due to the complications that cancer cells can produce. TNS: What brought you to Oncology? What was your motivation for choosing this area of medicine? ACK: When I left high school, back in Pakistan, I knew I would be a cancer doctor. I did not know much about cancer then, I did not know what kind of specialisation was needed to work in the area, but I knew that I wanted to be a cancer doctor. And this is the path I followed through medical school and later on in the fellowships that I selected. Cancer is an intriguing disease; we do not have a cure for most cancers and it is a killer as well. Intellectually, it is a very challenging area. Moreover, there is a stigma attached with the disease. I found this stigma, intrigue and our limited knowledge to be very challenging. TNS: But most doctors, from Pakistan and elsewhere as well, end up choosing to be clinicians rather than researchers. What was your motivation for becoming a researcher? ACK: My motivation in life has never been money. It is important and I always wanted to have enough, but not more than that. I want to make a real difference in the lives of people who are suffering from cancer. To me, the real challenge was intellectual; I wanted to take up the intellectual challenge of working at the frontier of cancer research. I used to read my medical textbooks and wonder how the writers had been able to do this research, how wonderful it would be to be able to do that and to find things that can help people. TNS: Now that we understand what cancer cells are, and how lethal they can be, let us talk about various approaches to treating cancer and dealing with cancer cells! What is chemotherapy and what is the philosophy behind this method of treatment? ACK: Chemotherapy agents are drugs or chemicals that have been found, discovered or developed, which can interfere in normal physiological progress (for example, DNA replication) of cells and can even kill all types of cells. We know cancer cells divide fast, live longer and have certain other properties that most normal cells in the body do not have. The idea is to find some property in cancer cells that can be used as a target of chemotherapy drugs, so that they kill only those cells that have the said property and not other cells. That way we can kill cancer cells only. If we know that cancer cells divide fast and we have chemotherapy drugs that target fast-dividing cells, cancer cells will get killed. However, at the same time, chemotherapy drugs will attack all fast-dividing cells, even normal ones. That is why when we give chemotherapy, hair fall out and stomach gets upset. These body parts have fast-dividing cells, which also get killed in the process. There are a number of processes in cancer cells that are specific to them. If we have effective drugs to kill cancer cells and if we can target better using the processes that are specific to cancer cells, we can kill them all. However, do bear in mind that cancer cells have backups too. A few cancer cells may not be killed with chemotherapy agents (because they may not be fast growing); they can survive and can help cancer stage a comeback (recurrence). This is why we say even with 'complete' remission we do not have the full cure for cancer, because some cancer cells can survive and cancer can stage a comeback. Radiation, the other major way of treating cancers by killing cells, also takes more or less the same route: we try to kill all cancer cells in an area through radiation. As all cells in an area get killed by radiation, it has to be carefully targeted and adjoining areas have to be protected by putting lead shields on them. TNS: What is the topic of your research? ACK: My research is on finding more 'targeted therapies'. For example, chemotherapy has many side effects: it can cause secondary problems, such as myelodysplastic syndrome; and it can lead to loss of hair, stomach problems, diarrhoea, etc. Moreover, there can be recurrence of cancer after chemotherapy, which causes significant disruption in quality of life of the patient. Finally, chemotherapy is costly to administer; it has to be done in a hospital, and under close monitoring and supervision. Therefore, we need to target therapies better, so that they target only cancer cells and have limited side effects. I started my career using traditional therapy agents. Even when I was doing my fellowship, I used the traditional and standard chemotherapy approach. But once I became faculty, I decided to work on new therapies that would be easy to give to patients (like a daily oral tablet), easy to monitor, tolerable with limited side effects, more cost effective and, of course, better at treating cancer. Moreover, for some cancers, such as myeloma and chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) that I work with, chemotherapy is not very effective. For example, CLL is a slow-growing cancer, so drugs that are meant for fast-growing cells are not effective against it. Therefore, I had to look for other options. I started looking at the micro-environment that cancer creates to see how we can treat it using the same. The idea here is that as cancer cells grow, they create a more conducive micro-environment around them, which provides them nourishment, allows them to grow and protects them from any harm. Thus it should be possible to have an effect on cancer, especially the speed with which it grows, by influencing the micro-environment that it lives in. The aim still is to treat cancer, but instead of targeting cells and killing them directly, we aim to do this by affecting the micro-environment that surrounds it. I was one of the first people to suggest the importance of micro-environment for both CLL and myeloma cancers. In the last decade or so, we have worked on producing new drugs that affect the micro-environment. Thalidomide and its later versions, such as Revlimid, are examples of such drugs. Though we are still not sure about the exact manner in which these drugs work, we do know that they work by altering the micro-environment in which cancer lives. For example, we have found chemicals that help cancer create new blood vessels in the area it is growing in, to supply cancer cells with blood and nutrients. If we can use drugs to disrupt the process and not allow the growth of these blood vessels in cancerous parts of the body, we will be able to slow down or even stop the growth of cancer. These new drugs have allowed us to do exactly that in a number of cancers and by targeting a number of pathways. One benefit of these drugs has been that we have been able to increase substantially the period for which a cancer patient can stay alive and have a decent quality of life. In the case of myeloma cancer, the patients used to live on average for two to three years about a decade ago when I started work in the area; now the average survival period is eight to ten years. The quality of life of these patients has also improved. We are only starting to realise the potential of these drugs; work on some newer versions of these drugs is under way and other options are also being explored. So, if the pace of research stays the same, another decade could allow us to make substantial progress. If we were able to manage cancer, the way people manage diabetes for decades, by taking a tablet a day, would that not be a major achievement? Of course, if we could find a cure for cancer in the process, that would be even better. TNS: Where do you see this research heading? ACK: In a matter of years, we have seen significant improvements in survival rates and number of years of survival. A few years ago, some of the drugs had only a 50 percent response rate in the patients, now we have drugs that allow 80 percent response rate on average and some even have a 100 percent response rate. This is major progress and it has had great benefits for the people. We will continue to work on improvements in the area, so that the patients live longer, they have a better quality of life and the therapy is less costly to administer. But we still have not found a cure for most cancers, because cancer cells have an impressive ability to resist therapies. For example, cancer cells, like normal cells, produce protein for nutrition. If you are able to remove the protein, cancer cells will die. In fact, 90 percent of cancer cells do die when we remove the protein, but about 10 percent survive this therapy; they resist and are able to resist. We do not yet know what triggers this resistance. If we can figure this out, we might be able to control cancer cells and kill them. That would be a cure. I think that cancer cell genome has a pathway or network that allows cancer cells to make a certain percentage of cells that resist therapy. We are trying to figure out these pathways. The day we succeeded in our effort, we might be able to defeat cancer. That will be the realisation of the dream of all cancer researchers. TNS: Let us talk a little bit about cancer research and treatment in Pakistan! Some of the new drugs that you have mentioned, such as Revlimid, are not available in the country and some of the new therapies have not yet been introduced here. How does that affect the treatment of cancer patients in Pakistan? ACK: Let me put it this way: if I were to move to Pakistan, will I be handicapped in treating cancer, since I will not have access to Revlimid and similar agents? My answer is that the absence of these agents will not handicap me by much. The older therapies are still quite effective and a good clinician should be able to combine them to provide fairly good quality treatment. My feeling about Pakistan is that it is not only an issue of lack of latest agents and therapies; it is an issue of environment and lack of research culture. There seems to be a lack of curiosity among clinicians as to how they could combine existing therapies to serve the needs of the patients better. Cheap and generic drugs can be used, in various combinations, for each type and stage of cancer, and these can be quite effective. Development of such regimens does not require expensive equipment, latest agents or a lot of funding; it requires intellectual curiosity, and an environment that encourages and nurtures it. Unfortunately, this element is missing from cancer research and treatment in Pakistan. The cost of cancer treatment is another big issue for most patients in a poor country like Pakistan. As the treatment can only be provided in hospitals, its cost can be significant and sometimes even prohibitive for a vast majority of the patients. We can combine traditional approaches, from the point of view of the patient, to deliver better and cost-effective care. Similarly, existing tools can be used more effectively. The real issue for the medical profession and society, however, is how we develop an environment in Pakistan that encourages such experimentation and learning by clinicians. Canada, though not exactly close to Pakistan, offers an excellent example in this regard. The country has universal health care. Due to the expensive -- and sometimes experimental -- nature of latest therapies, it does not allow their introduction, and prefers to work with the older and more established regimens. But it provides high quality care to cancer patients. Canada has a rigorous and thorough whetting process before it allows new therapies to be introduced. So older therapies can still be used quite effectively, as they are being used in Canada, and cancer clinicians in Pakistan need to develop similar low-cost approaches. Let me give you a couple of examples! Fairly basic research had shown that cervical cancer is caused by a virus. Now we have a vaccine for cervical cancer. It is especially recommended for sexually active people and it prevents cervical cancer from developing. The detection of the cause of this cancer did not rely on very expensive research, but the benefit of the development of the vaccine is clearly significant. My first paper was on a HIV-related cancer. HIV-positive people can be susceptible to a number of cancers, including some vicious ones. A sarcoma is the most common form of cancer in advanced HIV patients. It occurs in the lung and causes death of the patient within five to six weeks. But I showed that if you control the HIV, the patient can live a lot longer. This research did not require any advance equipment or latest medicines. For stomach cancers, doctors traditionally used to cut the affected portion to get rid of the tumour, but this entails a major operation that is very costly too. A doctor in Australia examined some of these cancers and found that for a number of them the ulcers caused before the cancer had a virus in them. After doing some simple laboratory work dealing with cultures, the doctor showed that the virus caused ulcers that, if left untreated, could become cancerous. So instead of cutting off parts of the stomach like in the past, doctors now give the patients antibiotics for a few weeks. This allows them to get rid of the cancer as well. Could such work not be done in Pakistan? By the way, the doctor was awarded the Nobel Prize for his work. TNS: Why is there a stigma attached to cancer in Pakistan? ACK: It is a killer; you are announcing a death sentence in most cases when you tell a person of a cancer diagnosis. There are a few therapies, but they are very toxic. Moreover, they do not always work or work only to buy time. Even when they work in any of the senses mentioned, they often affect adversely the quality of life of the patient. Our work shows that we can address these issues to a certain extent with some of the modern agents. We can reduce costs, provide a longer life -- if not a cure -- and can have a much better quality of life for most patients now. Once the results of the latest regimens become more commonly known, the stigma will go away. But the ultimate dream, of course, is to find a cure for cancer. What an achievement that will be! And, of course, once we have a cure, cancer will not have any stigma. (Email: bari@lums.edu.pk)
special An evaluation of the Musharraf regime's economic policies and performance By Hussain H Zaidi The regime of General
(r) Pervez Musharraf has been widely criticised for being despotic, and
for There was no let up in sanctions against Pakistan after Musharraf's coup. This is significant, because Pakistan has always been dependent on foreign capital inflows to sustain its economy. But 9/11 and the stance taken by the then-Pakistani government against the Taliban regime in Afghanistan forced the West, particularly Washington, to make overtures to Islamabad. Thereafter, Pakistan became a front-line state in the so-called 'war on terror', prompting the West to strengthen economic ties with the country through debt relief and generous aid. The US alone gave about $12 billion in economic and military assistance to Pakistan between 2002 and 2007. But for this assistance, the country's economic situation would have been even worse. The Musharraf regime's economic policies marked the continuation of those of his predecessor, Mian Nawaz Sharif: deregulation of the economy, a liberal trade and investment regime, and privatisation of state enterprises. The results, however, were significantly better, mainly because of relative political stability and friendly attitude of major donor countries. Moreover, the worldwide crackdown on money laundering, which allegedly was used to finance al-Qaeda activities, meant that Pakistani workers would send their remittances through normal banking channels. These factors contributed to robust economic growth, stabilisation of the exchange rate, and a record increase in workers' remittances and foreign direct investment (FDI). Musharraf assumed power on October 12, 1999, and resigned as the country's president on August 18, 2008. Except for the last five months of his tenure, he remained fully in charge of the country's political and economic fortune. Thus to evaluate economic policies and performance of the Musharraf regime, we need to cover the period between financial years 1999-2000 (FY00) and 2007-08 (FY08). We begin by giving an overview of the country's economy in financial year 1998-99 (FY99). The economy was growing at a modest rate of 4.2 percent; inflation was 5.7 percent; investment-to-gross domestic product (GDP) ratio was 15.6 percent; savings-to-GDP ratio was 11.7 percent; per capita income was $470; debt-to-GDP ratio was 88 percent; external debt stood at $37.6 billion; external debt-to-GDP ratio was 51.7 percent; domestic debt stood at Rs1.45 trillion; domestic debt-to-GDP ratio was 49.4 percent; unemployment rate was 6.12 percent; fiscal deficit was 6.1 percent of GDP; and public revenue was 15.9 percent of GDP. On the external front, FDI inflows were registered at only $376 million; current account deficit was $2.42 billion (4.1 percent of GDP); trade deficit was $2.08 billion; workers' remittances stood at $1.06 billion; foreign exchange reserves were registered at $2.27 billion; and rupee-dollar parity was 46.79. Under Musharraf, most of these economic indicators underwent drastic changes, but not immediately. For instance, the first two years of his regime -- FY00 and FY01 -- saw further slowdown of the economy, as GDP growth first fell to 3.9 percent in FY00 and then to 1.8 percent in FY01. Workers' remittances fell to $983 million in FY00 and slightly increased to $1.08 billion in FY01. Foreign exchange reserves shrank to $1.96 billion in FY00 and increased to $3.21 billion in FY01. Per capita income increased to $526 in FY00. FDI also registered a modest increase of $94 million to reach $470 million in FY00, but again fell to $322 million in FY01. The change, however, came in financial year 2001-02 (FY02), particularly after 9/11 and subsequent capital inflows into Pakistan. The economy grew by 3.1 percent -- still modest, but almost double the growth rate during the preceding financial year. Both workers' remittances and foreign exchange reserves more than doubled to reach $2.39 billion and $6.43 billion, respectively. FDI increased to $485 million. As trade deficit fell to $1.2 billion, the country recorded current account surplus of $1.33 billion. The next financial year (FY03) saw further improvement in economic indicators. Growth gained momentum and the economy grew by 4.8 percent. Foreign exchange reserves increased to $10.72 billion, FDI to $798 million and workers' remittances to $4.24 billion. The increased capital inflows improved rupee-dollar parity to 57.7 from 61.0 during FY02. Trade deficit further fell to $1.06 billion and the current account surplus increased to $3.16 billion, while per capita income increased to $582. The period between FY04 and FY08 was characterised by healthy economic growth, which on average was 7.1 percent per annum. During the last fiscal year (FY08), however, growth rate fell significantly to 5.8 percent. During this period, the exchange rate remained relatively stable, though again the second half of FY08 saw sharp depreciation of the rupee against the dollar. Pakistan's foreign exchange reserves stood at $15.18 billion at the end of FY07. During the last five years, the country on average received annual FDI inflows of $3.25 billion. Both during FY07 and FY08, FDI crossed $5 billion mark -- ostensibly an expression of foreign investors' confidence in the economy. Meanwhile, the country's total debt and external debt as percentage of GDP fell to 56.0 and 27.0, respectively. Other economic indicators, however, underwent sharp deterioration. Trade deficit increased from $2.08 billion in FY99 to $20.74 billion in FY 08; current account deficit exceeded $14 billion -- 7.0 percent of GDP from 4.1 percent in FY99; fiscal deficit increased to seven percent of GDP; revenue-to-GDP ratio fell to 14 percent; external debt reached $46 billion from $37.6 billion in FY99; domestic debt more than doubled to Rs3.14 trillion from Rs1.45 trillion in FY99. The enormous increase in domestic debt was mainly due to the government's dependence on bank borrowing as the principal source of deficit financing. The monetisation of fiscal deficit was also the major cause of inflation, which was 12 percent at the close of FY08. Though per capita income increased to $1,085, income disparities also widened, as evident from the upward movement of Gini coefficient from 0.27 in FY01 to 0.30 in FY06. Unemployment rate, which was six percent in the first two years of the Musharraf regime, remained between seven and eight percent for the next six years. It again fell to 5.32 percent during FY07. Though investment-to-GDP ratio rose to 22.9 percent in FY07, before dropping to 21.6 percent, the increase was only marginal and did not reflect the overall healthy growth rate during the Musharraf era. Savings also increased, but not consistently. For instance, in FY03, savings-to-GDP ratio increased to 20.8 percent, but declined to 18.1 and 15.1 percent, respectively, in the next two years. In FY06 and FY07, the share of savings in GDP increased to 16.4 and 17.7 percent, respectively, before falling to 13.9 percent in FY08. This means that the economic growth during the Musharraf era was not based on strong fundamentals. For a developing country like Pakistan, economic growth is a major macroeconomic objective. But this growth has to be stable; otherwise, it will be difficult to sustain. Stable growth entails, in addition to the expansion of GDP, appropriate increase in the level of savings and investment, price stability, a high level of employment, and stability in the balance of payment and financial account positions. During the period under review, however, these key indicators on the whole exhibited a sharp downward trend and the growth was largely on account of inflow of foreign capital. The Musharraf regime also failed to take action against cartels. These cartels would manipulate price by reducing output and, thus, creating artificial shortage of commodities. Some members of the Musharraf cabinet and their cronies were involved in these activities, and ensured that the cartels continued to rule the roost. Though the competition regime was upgraded vide the promulgation of the Competition Ordinance in October 2007, political patronage prevented decartelisation -- a mockery of the regime's self-proclaimed commitment to good governance. The bursting of the bubble of economic growth during the last few months of the Musharraf era exposed the essential flaws in the economic policies pursued by his regime. Sustained growth rate is the effect, rather than the cause, of the increased productive capacity of the economy. Therefore, attention needs to be paid towards shoring up the productive capacity of the economy. During the Musharraf era, however, little was done to increase the productive capacity of the economy, and efforts were aimed largely at showing increase in numbers, such as that of GDP growth and per capita income. (Email:
hussainhzaidi@gmail.com)
The civilian government at the helm of affairs needs to take concrete steps to show that it is different from the dictatorial regime that preceded it By Ammar Ali Jan Pakistan's political
landscape has seen a great deal of transformation since March 9, 2007,
when There can be no doubt that the lawyers' movement has been able to galvanise a large section of the population that had completely lost faith in the country's political system. This is precisely the reason why Musharraf was able to get a smooth sailing for the first seven years of his rule. His stance on the so-called 'war on terror', massive deregulation on the instructions of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), giving unprecedented financial favours to generals and his cronies, and brutally repressing any dissenting voice in the smaller provinces had made him unpopular for quite sometime. The people, however, were not ready to challenge his autocratic government for the fear of being betrayed by the political forces, as had happened on many occasions in the past. The storm of the lawyers' movement broke that apathy, as many people looked at it with optimism. The political parties also joined in and from March 9 to July 20, 2007, we saw one of the most popular movements in Pakistan's history. Thousands waited for the 'deposed' chief Justice as he visited different cities to garner support for the lawyers' movement. Many youngsters got the taste of a large movement for the first time in their lives, as the cynicism of the 1990s gave way to the passion of 2007. The July 20 victory was celebrated throughout the country and the people have started believing ever since that their participation can bring the government to its knees, no matter how powerful it is or how influential its international backers are. Civil society activists, students and, most importantly, the media has strongly asserted itself ever since. The defiance of these sections during the 'emergency' gave further confidence to the public about its power. The results of the February 18 general elections was the epitome of this optimism, when all those who were Musharraf's ardent supporters and had benefitted from his unconstitutional rule were thrown out of power through the will of the people. This was the greatest morale booster for a nation that had long given up any hope for a positive change. Before getting into how these dreams were shattered one after another, it is important to emphasise important differences between the Pakistan of today and that of March 9, 2007. First, as I discussed earlier, Pakistan is a much more politicised society than it was a year-and-a-half ago. Civil society is responding to national issues, while the media's principled stand against a dictator has made it permanently difficult for any leader to come in confrontation with it. The revival of trade and student unions is another positive step, and we can already see its results in increased worker militancy, an example being the recent countrywide strike by employees of the Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL). This politicisation means that there will be a greater check on those calling the shots in Islamabad. Importantly, politicians now are also showing a lot more maturity in dealing with crises than in the past. An important understanding between the major political parties is on the issue of inviting the military into politics, a fatal mistake that has cost Pakistan dearly. The Pakistan Muslim League (PML) headed by Mian Nawaz Sharif, which was the favourite of the military establishment in the 1980s and 1990s, has made the correct decision of extending support to the democratic process, even as its members sit on the opposition benches in the National Assembly. It is heartening to know that our politicians have learnt something after the hardships they had to collectively face during the Musharraf's tenure. The most important aspect of the lawyers' movement has been that the credibility of the military has been seriously dented, especially in its traditional base of Punjab. The slogans against the army during the movement were unheard of in Punjab (though they had been popular for a long time in smaller provinces). The military's defeat in 1971 or the Kargil fiasco did not do as much damage to its reputation as losing the war of hearts and minds did. The Pakistan Army was thrashed during the movement and one still remembers how slogans were raised against the military in Rawalpindi and Islamabad during the lawyers' Long March. Such a sentiment in the military's stronghold could not even be imagined a couple of years ago, with the threat of becoming a 'missing' person looming large. However, one must admit that the lawyers' movement, like the one in the 1960s, has failed to change the basic structure of the Pakistani state. Yes, I would tend to agree with those who argue that the free and fair presidential elections represent a break from the past. Yet, does this also mean that there will be major policy changes and the incumbent government will be more receptive to the demands of the common people? In order to answer this question, we must look at the forces that the current government is aligned with, both nationally and internationally. At the national level, those in the government mostly hail from feudal or elite business families. That is perhaps the major reason that the government so far has failed to grant any meaningful concessions to workers or peasants in terms of wages, job security, health insurance, etc. The government has also failed to introduce the much-needed land reforms, because they will go against the interests of those who are running the show in Islamabad. At the international level, the incumbent government, much like the previous one, is too closely linked with American imperialism. Almost a year ago, the high command of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) had assured the international financial institutions (IFIs) in Washington that after coming to power their party would not abandon the economic policies pursued by General (r) Musharraf. This means they will implement the neo-liberal agenda with full force, a glimpse of which we saw during the PTCL strike a couple of months ago when the 'party of the poor' decided to support the Sheikhs of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) rather than standing by its core constituency. The spiralling price-hike and the removal of subsidies are clear examples of what economic policies to expect from the PPP government in the days to come. The PPP's refusal to reappoint the chief justice or to end the ongoing military operation in the country's tribal areas, both apparently at the behest of the United States, show how closely the current government is linked with the global capital. That the majority of Pakistanis want Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry restored as the country's chief justice (including many cadres of the PPP who enthusiastically took part in the lawyers' movement) or an end to the ongoing military operation in the tribal areas matter little, because the strings are being pulled in Washington. Unfortunately, political forces other than the PPP do not offer a viable alternative. The PML-N's over enthusiasm for efficiency, as in the case of its provincial government in Punjab, prevents it from undertaking any meaningful policy changes. The party simply wants the current policies to be implemented 'properly'. However, to build a more just and humane social order, what we need is a clear break from this system that is inherently exploitative. There are many who might be disappointed at the outcome of a thrilling year-and-a-half that could not meet its promise. However, some important changes have been made and all those who took part in the lawyers' movement deserve the credit for this. While we must fully support the continuation of the democratic setup and the prevention of any future military adventure, we also must understand that this political structure is still inherently anti-people and there will be many future outbursts against it. This system is built on sand and will eventually collapse. We must prepare for such an eventuality and build a political force that offers a viable alternative to the people of this unfortunate land. (Email: aa_jan@hotmail.com) A country's economy cannot rely solely on large-scale manufacturing units By Sidra Tufail A heated debate
concerning the relative roles and significance of large firms versus the
small firms In some countries, small firms have even outpaced large ones in innovation and job creation. It is true that they fail to capture the economies of scale associated with mass production, but what they lack in cost-effectiveness they make up with the uniqueness and fineness that can only be achieved by a skilled craftsman and rarely by a factory line. It is high time for our economists and policymakers to pay more attention to the role of the cottage industry in today's global economy. In Pakistan, large-scale industrialisation strategies have not been successful in solving the problem of poverty and unemployment of the common people. We should look instead at the cottage industry sector to contribute positively towards the growth and equity objectives of Pakistan, by diverting resources from larger corporation giants to the smaller enterprises that could lead to increases in both output and employment generation opportunities. Cottage industries were in fact the precursor to the factories that would eventually come to characterise the Industrial Revolution. Today, they are usually family-owned and home-based small-sized production units with little or no financial backing, whose production process is based mostly on local raw materials, inherited artistic skills and simple indigenous technology used usually in agrarian or artisan work. Cottage industries traditionally were prominently rural based, but in the course of time -- due to the technological innovations and evolving economic circumstances -- they have spilled over to urbanised centres as well. The area of cottage industries has now broadened remarkably, from simple indigenous technology-based and home-made produces to refined end products of wide varieties. In Pakistan, cottage industries concentrate mostly on textile goods, such as embroidery, batik, khaadi fabric, leather goods, pottery, hand-woven carpet,. and sports and surgical goods. Many of these products that we see in the city markets are actually produced in small cottage businesses dotted along the city outskirts. One such example is that of Razia, a widow who owns a small business weaving wicker baskets that she sells to a local buyer. She lives in one of the many small village settlements speckled on the periphery of the Raiwind road. Employing over a dozen young girls, she owns and manages the entire small business from her house to earn a livelihood for herself and her four young children. For her it would be virtually impossible to find employment elsewhere with no schooling or vocational training, except the skill of weaving that she learned form her mother. "We were struggling after my husband died and with no other option, I started weaving baskets from my house and eventually it expanded and I began hiring girls from the neighbourhood to help me out," she states emphatically. "This business venture that I initiated may seem meager, but it is the only thing that has kept me and my children from coming onto the streets." It is people like her who can look at the cottage sector as a source of employment and income. In Pakistan, the cottage industry is a source of subsistence for many others like Razia. In addition to its economic importance, the cottage industries sector is significant because, if given proper financial incentives and adequate platform for growth, it can play a pivotal part in upholding the culture and heritage of Pakistan. If channeled wisely, the cottage industry can not only be an agent of increased gross domestic product (GDP) levels, but also be a tool of earning valuable foreign exchange. Specially handmade handicrafts and artifacts reflecting the deep ethnic traditions made by the cottage sector are highly sought after in the international arena. If these products are marketed effectively, then they would be successful in not only capturing the domestic markets, but also the more lucrative and evasive international markets as well. In Pakistan there is a multiplicity of cottage industries, yet with uncertain impact. This ability to incorporate lessons and new ideas is a key factor to remain competitive in the international economic environment. Unfortunately, the cottage sector in our country has failed to do so. The cottage industry should adopt business strategies that will help it secure their niches in the economic arena which they have yet been unsuccessful in. They still need to take off and realise their full potential in our economy. There is relatively little known about the small cottage firms operating in our economy, particularly those enterprises at the lower end of the spectrum that are usually overlooked. Cottage industries provide economic opportunities for the lower income section of people through employment and income generation schemes all over the world. This is even more prevalent in underdeveloped countries where there exists a low human development index, depressed income levels, and obsolete and outdated levels of technology, because the factors of production required for the establishment of a cottage industry are mostly indigenous to their economy. For developing economies, especially those which are agrarian based like Pakistan, cottage industries should be viewed as a viable solution to their developmental predicaments. However, unlike large enterprises in the formal sector, the cottage industry sector is constrained by financial and other resources in our economy. This sector faces serious problems because of current macroeconomic and financial conditions prevalent in Pakistan. There exist restraints affecting cottage industries in terms of their creation, development and performance. They are obstructed by various constraints in the legal and economic framework, difficulties in acquiring information and technology, and insufficient access to finance. These binding constraints hinder not only the growth potential of enterprises but also their risk taking. When asked about whether she had ever considered external financing to expand her business, Razia seemed largely ignorant and hesitant, lamenting: "Why would anyone ever want to give me money? And I don't want to have to owe money to anyone. They give me money and they'll eventually take over my business. And then where will I go?" She is also unable to find a market for her baskets and at present she is dependent on only one buyer who dictates unreasonable terms. "He pays me a very small sum and I know he then sells my baskets at a much higher price in the market, but I am helpless. There is no one else whom I can sell my products to, so I do not argue," she concludes. This is why the government needs to step up. Management, financial, technical infrastructural and marketing services and assistance targeting the growth potential of cottage industries should be made readily available to entrepreneurs. In view of their contribution to income and productive employment, it is appropriate and imperative that they should be the target of friendly and focussed policies and projects from the government. Overall, interventions in the business environment and in the financial sector are necessary in the form of sustainable and market-driven incentive framework for their development. The government needs to identify appropriate and justifiable policies and institutions that can help improve their performance, and contribute to economic growth and job creation. Policy recommendations are urgently needed to reform the current government's efforts to enable the business environment, increase the availability of financial services while reducing the cost of credit and promote a market for business development services. There is need to design and implement policies and regulations aimed at creating an economic environment that is conducive and encouraging to the cottage sector enterprises' growth, both at the macro- and micro-level. They have remained ignored and overlooked for too long in the industrial strategy of the government as well as the private business community in Pakistan. The sector has a significant role in poverty alleviation through income generation opportunities and the government should play due emphasis on it. There is a dire need to immediately undertake steps to revive and reinvigorate the declining and damaged cottage industry sector, and a coherent plan of action must be undertaken to help the cottage industry overcome the weaknesses that are endogenous to its very nature. Cottage industries are highly heterogeneous business units and play a much more important role in economic growth than had been acknowledged previously by the government. They should be viewed as potential engines to economic growth and employment in Pakistan. Our policymakers should realise and unearth the unrealised potential of this sector as a potential source of dynamism, flexibility and growth diffusion in the economy. (Email:
sid_tufail@hotmail.com)
Despite the relatively smooth exit of General (r) Musharraf, the scene of governance in Pakistan is still tumultuous By Dr Noman Ahmed All the basic tenets of
national performance are out of order in Pakistan. The poor macroeconomic The existence and intensity of corruption in Pakistan is now a well established fact, thanks to the research and documentation done by international organisations, such as Transparency International (TI). It appears that the current leadership will bulldoze all institutional mechanisms that can question the past and present wrongdoings of power-wielders in any respect. No wonder that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has been converted into a non-entity. The National Anti-Corruption Strategy is practically reduced to an academic document and the judiciary has been virtually deprived of functional independence necessary to check corruption. An analysis of these factors reveals many interesting points for common learning. Corruption is an economic vice with severe implications. According to a study conducted by Dr Hafiz Pasha and Dr Shahid Javed Burki in the late 1990s, more than 20 percent of Pakistan's GDP is lost annually in corruption. If one conservatively assumes that no escalation of value has taken place in this figure, even then it amounts to $30 billion annually. A resource-strapped country like Pakistan can ill afford to waste such a hefty amount to unknown coffers without the much-desired impact on national economy. It is also disappointing to note that no fresh effort has been made to address the issue of corruption at any end. On the contrary, the current regime has rendered NAB ineffective since assuming power in April 2008. It is true that there are several allegations against NAB, but its working could have been streamlined in accordance with the basic legal provisions as enshrined in the Constitution. Political will to curb the menace of corruption is the first tread to be covered to make headway in this domain. Sadly, this is the vital missing link that is not likely to surface up, because the incumbent government is allergic to accountability and anti-corruption initiatives for obvious reasons. That Pakistan is rated as 138th most corrupt country, with a score of 2.4 in a ranking yardstick of 10 by TI, speaks volumes of the current state of affairs in the country. Performance-related corruption is another grave dimension in this respect. Virtually every sector of national performance has registered a decline of some sort. According to a research study conducted by TI, 95 percent of Pakistani citizens had to resort to bribery while accessing education, health care, food items, justice and employment. The prevalence of corruption is multi-faceted. Choice of wrong individuals to head institutions is a case in point. The rot in performance begins when the apex leadership of any organisation is appointed in violation of the fundamental principles of merit. At one point, personal friends were posted beyond count, followed by batch mates of the General (r) Musharraf who considered them trustworthy and loyal. Barriers of technical merit, rules and regulations could hardly stop such blatant malpractices. Whereas all the sectors have suffered on this count, some of the visible mentions include the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), which is struggling with a loss-ridden balance sheet; the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) that has made Pakistani cricket a laughing stock for the world; the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) that has miserably failed to manage even average international ranking for the team; and the Pakistan Railways that has shown poor performance and decline in market share. The same is true for contracts awarded for different works. A number of major works have been awarded to non-deserving parties that led to dismal results. The Gwadar deep seaport has not been able to attract a single ship worth the name since its completion in 2007. Independent reviews have shown that heavy continuous dredging shall be needed to maintain the navigation depth to the minimum 12.5 metre-level. An additional cost of $40 million was incurred to make the channel workable. The telemetry system on the Indus river, which was installed to monitor the flows at various strategic levels, is not functioning for the last several months. Despite the hefty expenditure, the system is still not operative. No one is held accountable for the various decisions and works undertaken in this respect. Mystery still shrouds the various railway accidents that resulted in the loss of life of hundreds. These corrupt practices shall continue to haunt us until and unless a basic mechanism of accountability is placed in practice. No respite can be achieved in stemming corruption till the resurrection of a fair judiciary. This applies to all the levels with specific reference to lower and district/sessions-level judicial system. It needs to be drastically reformed and simplified. The reduction in the magisterial cadres as a consequence of local government reforms has also affected the judicial capacity. The collective effort of bar and bench can help revive the lost tier. It is also vital to note that the media should be encouraged to train journalists to oversee the performance of public institutions. A trained and responsible media can play a very credible role in curbing performance corruption. Business and commerce also need similar monitoring. Rampant corruption practiced by large business houses can only be unveiled by professional reporting and unbiased analysis. Ill-gotten wealth and living beyond means are two vices that must be highlighted and projected with the rightful contempt. And finally, the people who stand in the way of corruption must be celebrated. For example, highest taxpayers from each sub-category must receive recognition. If virtues of such brave people go unnoticed, there will be no examples to emulate by the posterity. (Email:
nomaniconn@hotmail.com)
Why
do they plagiarise? By Muhammad Ilyas Khan Editorials and reports
in the recent past in newspapers bewail the problem of plagiarism in some One can only appreciate the HEC for its stand against this 'crime', and the editors and reporters of newspapers for supporting this cause and for highlighting the curse of plagiarism. One is also conscious of the fact that prescription and implementation of penalties to check plagiarism will definitely help in reducing the strength of this curse. However, limiting the scope of efforts against plagiarism to devising and imposing penalties only would be tantamount to killing the shadow instead of uprooting the real problem. That means there is no problem in prescribing and implementing penalties to discourage plagiarism at the tactical level, but to strategically deal with the problem, long-term and strategic efforts should be devised. Unless that is done, imposition of penalties may prove to be superficial and short term solutions. Keeping in view the above argument, we need to ask a question: How can plagiarism be eradicated (and not just stopped at some level)? To answer this question let me ask another question: Why do the teachers (and the students) plagiarise? Personally I think finding an answer to this and not to the first question is of fundamental importance. I say this because one cannot cure a disease before diagnosing its causes. But to answer this second question, one need to ask a third question: what does the act of plagiarism on the part of a university teacher tell the conscious mind? There could be two possible answers to this question: The first possibility is that the one who involves in plagiarism is oblivious about the very notion of plagiarism being an immoral and illegal act. Plagiarism in such a situation may be called inadvertent. This situation, is, however, very unlikely as one should not expect such an ignorance from a university teacher. The second possibility is that the perpetrator knows about the act of plagiarism as immoral and illegal and still resorts to it, in which case it may be called deliberate plagiarism. A deliberation on the education system in Pakistan may reveal a number of flaws which may lead to either the first or the second type of plagiarism. One can think of a number of factors leading to such a situation. But it is for sure that the roots are there in the poor quality of lower level (school) education, which does not promote concepts such as originality of thought, creativity and critical thinking. As a matter of fact blind follow, copying and reproduction of facts and rote learning are the most dominant features of our education system. Children in our educational institutions are treated as empty vessels that are sent to the educational institutions to be filled with facts and figures, where teachers serve the purpose of this filling. Teachers being oblivious to the concept themselves seldom make an effort to create awareness among the students about the real aims of the subject(s) that they 'teach'. There seems to be a state of purposelessness as far as teaching and learning is concerned at the lower level of our education system. Such students after graduation from these schools enter our seats of higher studies with little or no understanding of the purpose of education, which are critical thinking, research. and inquiry and creativity. In fact, they have never been trained during their long schooling years for independent thinking and research. Consequently, it appears no crime to them to copy the thoughts of others in the words of others and present them as their own even when they enter the seats of higher learning as student and even as teachers, as this is the only thing that they have been doing throughout their educational career. That means that if we really want to get rid of the curse of plagiarism (and academic cheating) at the university level, we need to make a start of the remedial work at the school level. This calls for a comprehensive programme of reform at the school level: Reform of the curricula, the school infrastructure, the teaching-learning processes, the teacher training programmes, the teachers' socio-economic conditions and, the most important of them all, the evaluation system. I identify the evaluation system as the most important one because as far as education process in our public schools is concerned, it predominantly revolves around our examination system. Throughout the academic year the teacher remains busy in preparing the student to get through the exams. A reform in the examination system would definitely lead to a reform in the teaching-learning process and the teachers' attitude towards teaching. One is of the view as is also revealed by a number of research studies that the present exam system is mostly focussed on testing the memorisation capabilities of students and does not test their real understanding and analytical skills. Secondly evaluation should be a continuous process and not a once-a-year or even once-a-life phenomenon, as only then can they be a real reflection of the genuine learning of concepts and an assessment of the overall personality development of the student. As far as deliberate plagiarism is concerned, it is simply an act of dishonesty and cheating. Why would someone who is a teacher in the highest seat of learning, a position that should ideally carry the highest level of prestige and integrity, indulge in this very lowly act of cheating? Once again this is a reflection of a very sad state of affairs. Some of the possible explanations are in order. A university teacher may indulge in plagiarism because he/she lacks the skills to conduct original research; otherwise, an essential requirement to move ahead professionally. However, he/she may not find it easy to produce original research due a deficiency either in analytical skills or in language skills or in both of them. Both of these deficiencies can easily be traced back to the poor standards of education at the school and college level. These deficiencies may surely hamper his path towards professional development and, as a result, he/she may feel constrained to indulge in the otherwise highly condemnable act of plagiarism. (The
writer is a lecturer in Education at Hazara University, Mansehra. Email:
ilyasjans@yahoo.com)
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of Pakistan. Despite the avalanche of criticism being directed towards his
person, Zardari's election is at least legitimate insofar as there is no
mangling of the Constitution taking place to facilitate his taking office.
Only time will tell whether President Zardari will follow through on his
commitment to repeal the power of the president to dissolve the assemblies
and other vestiges of dictatorship
military, rather than foment radical change, should not be forgotten when
judgments are passed. This is why the president is not biting off more
than he can chew by, for example, antagonising the Muttahida Qaumi
Movement (MQM) in Sindh. Many of us are entitled to feel aggrieved at the
fact that the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) is allying itself to
proto-fascists but, seen in the context of the imperatives of power
politics, such decisions are hardly surprising.
people diagnosed with cancer, it is an announcement of a very short limit
imposed on their life, but over the years, there has been progress too.
Some cancers, if diagnosed early, can be excised and treated fully.
Others, with chemotherapy, radiation and/or other medicines, can go into
remission for long periods, giving the patient many years of good quality
respite. Still other cancers can be managed for many years, mainly due to
some recent breakthroughs in medical science. Some new drugs, available
only for the last decade or so, hold a lot of promise. It is hoped that
someday we will be able to treat cancer fully. This, however, remains a
dream whose realisation could remove suffering for millions of cancer
patients around the world.
showing scant regard for rule of law and supremacy of the Constitution.
The Musharraf regime, however, can also be taken to task on the basis of
its economic policies and performance. When Musharraf assumed power in
1999, the country's economy was in dire straits, mainly because major
donor countries had imposed sanctions against Pakistan after the Nawaz
Sharif government conducted nuclear tests in May 1998. Importantly, the
United States had curtailed economic assistance to Pakistan under the
Glenn Amendment.
General (r) Pervez Musharraf tried to force Chief Justice Iftikhar
Muhammad Chaudhry out of office. Now that we prepare for a Zardari
presidency, it is high time to analyse the impact of the turbulent events
of the last year, to establish the differences and similarities between
Musharraf's dictatorial regime and the current civilian setup.
has reemerged in the past decade. One view that has prevailed is that
small firms do not play an important part in the economy and that their
role will slowly diminish in the future, making place for large
manufacturing industries. However, a growing body of empirical evidence
suggests that a country's economy cannot rely solely on large-scale
manufacturing (LSM) units and that small-scale firms are a significant and
frequently dominant component of the industrial sector. A stable and
consistent growth in the economic system requires amalgamation of both the
large corporations alongside the small-sector industries.
performance; the dismal outputs in health, education and employment
sectors; the total breakdown of law and order situation in the Federally
Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), the NWFP and Balochistan; the paralysed
status of major sports, such as hockey, cricket and squash; the widespread
institutional decay; and an overall sliding status in all the sectoral
performances are the most disturbing variables in the contemporary
national scene. A core cause of this cumulative malignancy is the unabated
onslaught of corruption in our national affairs.
Pakistani universities. Reportedly a number of faculty members ranging
from the rank of a lecturer to that of the professor were allegedly
involved in the 'highest intellectual crime (plagiarism) that an academic
could be accused of'. Keeping in view the level of the 'crime' and the
'depth' of the malaise of 'immorality' rooted in our education system; it
was argued for in the editorials and reports that stern action be taken
against those academicians who are found guilty of plagiarism. The Higher
Education Commission (HEC) has been commended for its efforts to put a
stop to this menace of intellectual deceit.